


A Sheriff and her Queen

by Thompster



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, One Shot, One Shot Collection, swanqueen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-14 12:57:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10536915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thompster/pseuds/Thompster
Summary: A series of SwanQueen one shots. Contains some fluff and some angst, ratings might change.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! So I've decided to write a few SwanQueen one shots that I will post here in different chapters. This is my first try so please tell me what you think about it and leave a review!
> 
> A big thank you to my beta Melly.
> 
> Enjoy :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT or any of its characters.

Emma rolled on her side, turning to her beautiful girlfriend and watching her sleep peacefully. The rays of sunshine didn't seem to bother Regina as much as they bothered Emma. In their hurry to go to bed yesterday, they had forgotten to close the curtains, having some better _activities_ in mind.

The sunshine was lighting up Regina's beautiful ebony hair and illuminating her beautiful body.

Emma reached out and caressed Regina's cheek, placing a soft kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Hmm…" Regina moaned, clearly not ready to wake up just yet.

"Come on Sleeping Beauty wake up, today's the big day." Emma said as Regina opened her eyes and finally looked at Emma. She looked so cute, Regina thought. She was sitting on the bed next to her with her messy blonde hair, waiting for her to get up with a cute smile.

"Uh don't remind me, I have nausea just thinking about it." Regina said with a sigh. "And if you want to keep that pretty head of yours, don't call me Sleeping Beauty ever again, I'm a Queen and a bit more refined." she added smirking to her.

"Oh of course your Majesty, wouldn't want that dirty mouth of mine to cost me my head."

"Well I may have other ideas for that 'dirty mouth' of yours but not for today." She said chuckling. "And anyway heads are not my area, I take hearts remember?" She said lifting her eyebrow.

Emma chuckled and said "Oh yes I do recall, too bad you already have mine, can't take it from me anymore", with a fake disappointed face

"Aren't we cheesy this morning Sheriff Swan?" Regina asked with a smirk and added with a sigh "I'd love to continue this game but unfortunately we have to get up because like you said, there's a big day ahead of us…"

"Regina don't worry, it's gonna be alright… I'm sure they'll be totally okay with this." Emma tried to reassure Regina, stroking her hair.

"Oh yes I'm sure Snow White and Prince Charming will be _thrilled_ to learn that their daughter is dating the Evil Queen and oops bonus alert, she's having a baby with her as well." Regina said with a bitter laugh

"Regina come on, they know you're not that person anymore, you and Snow even became friends remember?"

"Hm I'd rather not."

"Regina." Emma said looking at Regina with a knowing look.

"What? Emma we're dropping not only one but two bombshells on your parents later."

"Listen I know you wanted to wait a little more but Regina you know that some unplanned events have made it impossible… Remember how Henry was thrilled when we told him, he was even more happy than I thought he would be. And you thought he would shut you out because you were 'trapping me'."

"Yes well he does have the heart of the Truest Believer, this isn't the same thing with your parents."

"It's gonna be okay Regina, you won't even have to say anything, I will tell them ok?" Emma asked with a smile.

"Okay.." Regina answered with a sigh

Emma kissed her softly and added "Okay then let's get dressed because we're really gonna be late"

"A Queen is never late dear." Regina said smirking, which made Emma chuckle.

Fortunately they made it in time, they hadn't bothered to come separately today since they were going to tell them they were dating.

However, coming to the part where they were about to tell the Charmings about their relationship, Emma suddenly felt anxious, and her mother noticed right away.

"Emma honey are you alright?" Snow asked taking her daughter's hand in hers on the table.

"Yeah, yeah sure I'm fine, I'm great, it's just… uh…" Emma didn't know how to drop the first bomb. So much for not having to say anything thought Regina, rolling her eyes.

"Just say what you have to say Emma." Snow encouraged her. David seemed to get anxious though, and it worried Emma.

Emma cleared her throat and decided to just go with it.

"Sooo, Regina and I…." She tried, but the words got stuck in her mouth, Regina decided to help her.

"Emma and I we hum…"

"We'redating." Emma said rapidly in one word and then looked up anxiously at her parents

"HA! You owe me 20 bucks Charming!" Snow said cheerfully, clapping her hands.

"Damn it, you couldn't have waited until Henry's birthday could you?" David said to both Emma and Regina.

"Wha-" Emma and Regina started looking at each other but Snow spoke again

"I knew they would tell us before, it was getting complicated to hide it David."

Emma couldn't believe what she was actually hearing, they didn't know all along? They couldn't right?

"Wait, you both knew?" Emma asked astonished

"Why of course we knew" Snow answered giving a knowing look to them.

"Well hard not to…" David said suddenly blushing.

"But how?" Emma asked at the same time as Regina asked "What do you mean…."

"Oh Regina come on, you and Emma have been eye-fucking each other since day one." Snow said

"MOM!" Emma couldn't believe her parents, this was so embarrassing and so awkward for her. It seemed it was the same for Regina because she was blushing very hard at Snow's words.

"We know everything, we're family!" Snow said giving a smile to David and kissing him.

Regina smirked and said "Oh so you know everything uh… Well good to know. David you can come over anytime for the crib, and Snow when are you available to go shopping because I'm gonna need new clothes." That would shut their mouth, she thought. And it did, looking at their shocked faces, Emma almost couldn't hide her laugh.

"Uh… You, hum, I mean… What?" Snow asked, not sure she understood what she actually meant.

"Why Snow, I thought our dear family knew everything?" Regina said casually.

"Well it seems like we don't after all…" David said breaking Snow's silence. "Are you pregnant Regina?" He asked.

"Well finally someone who's catching up, yes dear old grandpa, we are indeed having a baby." Regina said looking at Emma with a cute smile. Emma's anxiety faded at her partner's smile, she suddenly felt confident again and nodded smiling at her parents, taking Regina's hand in hers.

"But how?" Snow actually asked _the question,_ and suddenly Emma felt uneasy again. Regina however saw it as an opportunity to mock her.

"Why Snow, do I have to have the sex talk with you? I thought we were passed that already…" Regina said smirking to her.

Snow looked at her wide-eyed and blushed hard, thankfully for everyone, Emma broke the silence.

"OKAYY, so hum to answer your question mom I guess you know how true love works, so we don't need to talk about that… Like ever again." Emma said with a disgusted face, because talking about her sex life with Regina to her parents? No thanks.

"Oh my gosh I… I didn't expect that at all… I'm so happy for the both of you!"

"Yeah sorry Snow but as painful as it is for me to say that, you're going to be a grandmother yet again, some would think you're older than me… Well you do look older anyway." Regina said and was suddenly being hugged by Snow. She didn't expect that reaction at all, she looked at Emma over Snow's shoulders and throw a look that said ' _please put me out of my misery_ ', but Emma only chuckled at her. Regina put her arms around Snow as well and decided that it wasn't as bad as she thought. After a short moment they parted and Snow had tears in her eyes.

As David hugged Regina as well, Emma asked "So you guys are okay with this… Right?"

"Of course we are Emma, we knew all along for you and Regina and clearly she's making you happy" David said with a smile and snow added "that's the only thing that matters to us sweetheart, you are our daughter and we would accept you with no matter who, as long as they make you happy and treat you well", and then they where both hugging her as well.

After they parted Snow looked at her daughter very seriously and said "However Emma don't you dare to break Regina's heart, she's been through too much for you to mess with her heart, understood?"

Emma looked at her mother and nodded. She then looked passed her mother at Regina, who stared at Snow in shock and with tears in her eyes, and gave a loving smile saying "Of course."

Regina then walked towards Emma and hugged her lovingly

David was looking fondly at his family. He never thought they would be that happy, and he never thought they would actually have this. He never thought them and Regina could be a real family one day, and he couldn't be happier it was actually happening.

Snow then joined him, he put his arm around her shoulder and and looked at Emma and Regina who were still hugging.

He cleared his throat to have their attention and when they finally looked at him, still in each other's arms, he asked smiling "So, when do you actually want me to come by for that crib?"


	2. A Nerveland Tragedy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trip to Neverland to save Henry doesn't turn out as they supposed it would

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I'm back! Okay this one is quite long and a little darker...  
> Rated M: Trigger warning for major character death, violence and blood.

The second they saw that Henry was missing, they hurried to get him back. However what they didn’t know was that they wouldn’t bring him back alive.

Pan had won, Henry’s heart was his and he had killed the poor little boy. He could finally get rid of his annoying family and his 2 mothers in particular, or so he thought.

Emma was screaming holding her little boy’s lifeless body. He was limp in her arms and she couldn’t believe how much it hurt. Oh how it hurts, the tears were running down her cheeks and falling on Henry’s little body. Her perfect little boy, he was so smart and full of life, why did he have to go to sleep so soon? Ruthlessly murdered by his own great grandfather, she should add. She wanted to rip his throat out, squeeze his neck until he couldn’t breathe anymore and would beg for his life. But the thing is that she was so drained, she couldn’t fight anymore as she was clinging to her son’s body crying like she never had before.

Regina on the other hand, was just staring at them. She was staring at Emma emotionless, just as she had stared at Pan pushing his arch blade on her son’s little body, stealing the life out of him. She had stared at his body falling on the cold forest floor, but probably no colder than him now. She had stared at Emma as she started to scream and cry, running towards their son’s body and taking him in her arms, had stared at Snow and David hugging each other, their bodies shaking from their uncontrollable sobs.  
She had stared at the bloody blade falling to the floor, and at Pan laughing and screaming his victory through the whole island.  
The bloody blade. Her precious son’s blood was on that blade. Why wasn’t she feeling anything? Sadness? Anger? Despair? Nothing. Her mind went blank, and something shifted in her. The blade transported itself from the floor to her hand, the same hand that has now blood on it. Her baby boy’s blood. Suddenly she was in front of Pan and everything stopped, as she stabbed him in the heart with the blade, heart that once belonged to her son, but not anymore.  
Pan’s laughing stopped and suddenly, the forest had never been so silent. Everyone turned to look at him, panting hard and staring wide eyed at Regina, whose hand was still holding the blade that was stabbing him.  
Emma’s whimpers became silent then and she locked eyes with Regina, still holding their son. She tried to read her, but Regina’s eyes were emotionless at the moment, it was as if she wasn’t there anymore.  
Regina removed the blade from Pan’s chest and he fell to the ground. She was holding the blade in her hand, she couldn’t tell whose blood was on her now, she didn’t even care, she couldn’t feel anything.  
Finally breaking the eye contact with Emma she made her way past them and finally said something.

”Let’s go, we need to go back to Storybrooke.”

Emma then looked up to her parents, feeling helpless. She didn’t know why Regina was acting like nothing happened, like their son hadn't just been coldly killed, like she hadn't just stabbed Pan to death without even blinking.  
The Charmings however felt as helpless as their daughter at that moment.

”What’s gotten into her?” Snow asked with an hint of anger in her voice, David however was quick to put his hands on her shoulders to try and calm her.

”I… I have no idea..” Emma answered, tears still falling down from her red puffy eyes.

David sighed, rubbed the tears off of his face and painfully took his grandson’s body in his arms, taking him away from Emma and heading to the boat

When they arrived on the boat, Regina had already disappeared somewhere into a cabin, so the Charmings decided to let her be for now and place Henry’s body on a bed in one of the cabins nearby.  
Emma was kneeling beside Henry’s bed and brushing her hand on his soft hair. Snow was sitting next to her caressing her back soothingly.  
David however couldn’t bring himself to stay in the room, it was just too painful for now, so he decided to try and look for Regina instead.  
He found her two cabins further away, looking at the wall blankly, without moving.

”Hi Regina..”

No answer. She was still holding the dagger full of blood in her hand and David couldn’t tell if she was even aware of it

”Listen I…” he tried to arrange his thoughts.  
”I know it’s hard Regina, and I know we haven’t had the best relationship for the past few years but….” He sat beside her and took her hand. Surprisingly, she didn't move her hand away but she didn’t seem to even acknowledge him at the moment.

”I’m here for you Regina, and I mean it. If you ever want to talk, my door will always be open.” David said calmly. He lifted the hand he was holding to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on it, before putting Regina’s hand back in place. He took a last glance at her before leaving and when he saw that she still hadn’t moved or changed her expression, he left with a sigh.

The next time someone entered Regina’s cabin, it was Snow. A very pissed Snow. You could tell that she was very tensed only by taking a look at her, but Regina didn’t even acknowledge her presence, which made Snow even more pissed.

”What the hell is wrong with you? You really don’t have a heart do you??” Snow said through gritted teeth.

She moved closer to her and this time, Regina looked up to her.

”How dare you act like nothing happened??” Snow lifted her hand and slapped Regina hard on the face, she still got no reaction from her.

”You heartless bitch, you really didn’t love him did you? I bet you’re actually relieved now that you don’t have a burden to take care of at home anymore!” She said laughing at her. Regina had now tears in her eyes and something shifted in her, and next thing she knew she was grabbing snow by the throat, tears running down her cheeks for the first time. She thought she could hear snow screaming and see someone running to them, but everything was blurry.  
David and Emma were both running to them and screaming to Regina to let go of Snow.

”Regina, let her go!” David and Emma said in union as they both got a hold of one of them. David had removed Snow from Regina and was holding her, helping her to breathe properly again, and Emma was holding Regina, preventing her to get back to Snow.

”Regina stop please!” Emma said as Regina was still struggling to free herself. Emma didn’t know if she should feel relieved to finally see Regina reacting to the death of their son, or be scared of what could happen now that Regina seemed to react. Suddenly it became too much, Regina didn’t have any force in her to fight back anymore and just collapsed in Emma’s arms sobbing hard.

”That evil witch attacked me, she tried to kill me you both saw that!”  
”Snow you’re just not making any sense right now just stop! why would Regina attack you for no reason now? In her cabin? you’re the one who came to her, you must have had a reason too!” David replied, shouting at her.

”No I swear David she just jumped on me, I told you that woman was pure evil, she deserves nothing more than what she just got, she deserves to suffer for the rest of her pathetic life!”

”ENOUGH!” Emma shouted, still holding the poor woman in her arms. Regina was sobbing even harder now and had started to cover her ears when Snow said those horrible things to her. She just couldn’t take it right now, she felt so miserable, the death of her darling boy just coming to realization to her and now hearing this, that she deserved to suffer? That she deserved to feel that miserable and heartbroken? Regina couldn’t help but start to believe her.

Emma had tears in her eyes again as she was holding Regina’s head against her chest, caressing her hair and whispering comforting words to her.  
Her heart broke when Regina started to whimper in her arms and cry even harder.

”That’s it Regina, just take it all out” Emma encouraged her and suddenly Regina started to scream in Emma’s arms. Scream in despair, in sadness, in pain.

”Take it all on me Regina, I am here…. I’m here” Emma said sobbing hard too now as Regina was clinging to her, her body secretly just asking to be held right now.  
David suddenly felt like an intruder and took Snow’s hand and lead her outside with him.

Emma’s shirt was soaked with Regina’s tears as she was rocking her back and forth in her arms, until the sobs died down, as the tears.  
And it’s at this moment that Regina seemed to be coming back to her senses.

”Let me go, get away from me.” Regina said as she got away from Emma’s arms.

”Please Regina, I was… just trying to help, you looked like you needed it.”

”I don’t need you, you’re only pretending to care, you’re just like your mother.” Emma was about to answer but Regina beat her to it as she started to talk again.

”Regi-”

”Don’t try to pretend that you care Emma! You’re only afraid of what I would do if I let the Evil Queen out again. Well guess what, she was never in in the first place, she never left! I could just rip your heart out right now…” Regina got closer to Emma and her hand started to make her way to her heart.

”Regina… please don’t do that… you can’t…” Emma pleaded

”And tell me savior, why couldn’t I kill you right now? Henry’s not there anymore to ask about you, he’s not there to be disappointed or sad or heartbroken because I have taken his precious mother away from him, he’s just-” Regina was stopped by a sob, the sudden tightness in her throat making it impossible for her to finish her sentence. She couldn’t voice it, not just yet..

”…I don’t need you anymore, why should I spare your life while I could just crush your little heart and finally get my Revenge on Snow by killing her precious daughter that she just got back?” She asked with tears running down her cheeks again. Emma was staring at her and was crying too now.

”Because Regina I know that you don’t really want to kill me right now.” Emma said with a small smile who didn’t reach her eyes. Regina started to slowly lower her hand.  
”You know that this is not what Henry would have wanted and .. And I..” Emma struggled to get the words out. Regina was looking at her, locking her teary eyes with hers, and this is when Emma knew that she could get those 4 little words out, staring right into Regina’s eyes.

”You say you don’t need me but… Maybe.. Maybe _I_ need _you_ Regina.” Emma finally said through teary eyes, putting her head on her hands and crying, despair taking her over.  
Regina couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Surely she had heard wrong, right?

”You… What?”

”Come on Regina you heard me. I… We are going to need one another, okay? Henry was our son to the both of us and… My parents don’t know a thing about parenting, I mean I was only a few minutes old when they decided to abandon me in that wardrobe right?” Emma said with a bitter laugh and Regina lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling guilty for what Emma has been through. Emma saw right through it and put her finger under her chin straightaway and lifted her head so she could see her beautiful eyes again.

”Hey no I’m.. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty right now, it’s just… They can’t understand me, not the way you can. And Regina, want it or not, you’ve changed. You really tried to be a better person for Henry and I admire you for that. He was so proud of you” Emma’s voice was shaking at the end and she brought Regina to tears again. Seeing that Regina was crying again and clearly shaken by what she had just told her, Emma dared to make a move and got closer to her, taking her hesitantly in her arms again. Regina met her halfway and buried her head on Emma’s neck.  
She broke the comfortable silence that had settled between them a few minutes later, and lifted her head from Emma’s neck

”Emma… Where is he? Where did you..”

”Oh he’s.. 2 cabins away from this one, we… we put him on the bed” Emma said gently

”I’d like to see him, may I?” Regina asked hesitantly. Emma was shocked by her question, why did she ask her if she could see her own son?

”Oh Regina… Of course you can see him, you don’t have to ask me. Don’t ever ask for something like that again, don’t let what Snow said get to you, you are his mother, more than I could ever be, I should be the one asking you that. Speaking of, just let me kick her out of Henry’s room before you go in..”

Emma left the room, giving one last squeeze to Regina’s hand before letting go.  
When she entered in Henry’s room, she found Snow and David arguing over Henry’s body. How could they?!

”Hey! Both of you, get out of the room right now! How dare you fight in front of your grandson’s body?!” Emma said with so much anger that it scared Snow.

”I can’t believe the two of you. Anyway, Regina would like to have a little time with Henry so I need you out. Now.”

”No, there is no way I am letting that woman near my grandson!” Snow replied shouting

”And why is that Snow?! You’re afraid she might hurt him?? Because spoiler alert, he’s already dead!” It was David’s turn to shout, he just couldn’t stand his wife at the moment, how selfish and childish she could be right now, and he wondered, had she always been like this?

”BOTH OF YOU JUST STOP! Snow if you have one inch of respect for your grandson you will just shut the fuck up and leave the room so his mother can say proper goodbyes to him!”

”SHE’S NOT HIS MOTHER YOU A-” Snow started but couldn’t finish as she disappeared in a purple cloud of smoke with David.

”Wha…. Regina! I’m so sorry about this… are you okay?” Emma asked as she saw Regina standing behind the purple smoke, close to tears.

”Yeah I.. I don’t care about what she said. Is… Is he here?” Emma moved closer to her, taking her hand in hers to encourage her.

”Yes, he’s right there Regina. Come with me, if it’s too hard you can always try again later, ok? It’s okay if you can’t just yet Regina.” Regina just closed her eyes and squeezed Emma’s hand, nodding. Emma started to guide her to Henry and she opened her eyes.  
When she saw Henry’s little body on the bed, a loud sob left Regina’s body and she put the hand that wasn’t holding Emma’s hand to her mouth. She collapsed slowly on her knees next to Henry and cried, burying her head on the pillow next to Henry’s head. A few minutes later, once she had calmed down a bit, Regina got up and waved her hand over Henry’s body.

”Regina?”

”Don’t worry it’s just a preservation spell, the trip is going to take some time and I wouldn’t want… Anyway..”

”Yeah I get it” Emma said with a small smile to Regina.

Regina sat next to Henry’s head on the bed and started to stroke his hair gently, getting lost in her thoughts

_”Henry honey be careful and stop running please!”_

_”But mama it’s all sunny and warm I wanna run!” a 4 years old Henry said giggling, running in the park._

_Regina shook her head chuckling and smiling at her cute baby boy. He had just turned 4 two days ago and had asked for a Saturday afternoon at the park with his mama, since she couldn’t exactly give it to him on his birthday as she was working._  
_He was the light of her life, the only thing that made her happy. She loved him so much and just knowing that the only thing that he had asked for his birthday, was an afternoon to play with her made her feel loved back but also guilty at the same time._

 _She’s had so little time to play with him those last months, she had so much work to do that she struggled to find some time for him even on weekends._  
_The only times they had together were the meals they shared, and their quiet evenings when she would tuck him in and read him a story. Sometimes they would just watch tv for a little while, until he would fall asleep on her lap on the sofa, and she would carry him to his bed, kiss his forehead and watch him sleep for a few minute, before going back to her office downstairs to complete some paperwork. So when he had asked her for an afternoon with her, just the two of them at the park, she just couldn’t say no._

 _She had found him sitting on his bed a few weeks ago, talking with one of his teddybears (Dr Hopper had told her it was completely normal for small children to talk with their toys sometimes, it was their way to confide to someone who could ‘understand’ them) and her heart broke when she heard him telling Teddy ‘mama doesn’t play with me anymore, I think she doesn’t love me anymore.’ She couldn’t bring herself to enter and tell him she had heard him, how wrong he was, she couldn’t let him see her cry anyway. She decided to cook his favorite food that night, and spend a bonus hour with him. She cuddled with him and reminded him of how much she does love him, but that mama didn’t have much time these days._  
_So an afternoon at the park it was. She smiled at him when she saw him running towards her._  
_”Tired already sweetheart?” she said, chuckling when she saw him nod his head no. Henry looked so happy at this moment and couldn’t stop smiling._

_”No! Mama can we get ice-cream later?” She made that face that said ‘I don’t think so young boy’ but she melted when he added a ‘pretty pleaaase’ with a sad face._

_She sighed and answered ”Alright baby, but no desert tonight after dinner, okay? I don’t want you on a sugar rush before bedtime.”_

_”Yes mama thank you, I love you!” He threw his arms around her and it was as if he knew exactly what to tell his mother for her to melt on the spot._

_”Aww I love you too my little prince” She said as she grabbed him and attacked him with soft kisses_

_”Mamaaa stop!” She started to tickle him and had to stop when Henry couldn’t breathe anymore because of his laughing._

_”Alright, alright.” She chuckled._

_The afternoon went by, with them playing different games and lots of laughing and happiness. They went for that ice-cream and then got home because it was slowly getting dark._

_”Henry I told you to stop running please, you’re going to hurt yourself if you don’t pay attention.”_

_”No mama I’m a big boy now I can run without hurting myself.”_

_However this is not what happened when Regina was checking the mailbox, she heard her little boy suddenly crying. When she quickly lifted her head at the noise, she saw that he was on the ground, probably because he was running on the stair again and fell. She dropped the mails and ran to him_

_”Henry I thought I had told you not to run anymore!” She started angrily but she just couldn’t stay mad when her little boy threw himself in her arms and was crying big tears, clinching to her as if his life depended on it._  
_She took him in her arms and lifted him up to carry him inside. ”Shhhh baby it’s okay we’ll take care of that” She carried him upstairs and sat him on the tub as she went looking for some band-aids and antiseptic to clean his injured knee on the medicine cabinet._

_”N-no mom-my this will - hurt” Henry tried to say between sobs_

_”No sweetie I promise this won’t hurt” she said as she started to put some lotion on his knee. She then put a band-aid on it and carried her sobbing boy downstairs when he lifted his arms up for her to pick him up._  
_She sat with him still in her arms on the couch and caressed his hair softy, his head resting on her chest ”Shh Henry sweetheart it’s okay, it doesn't hurt anymore” She tried to sooth him but failed as he answered ”Yes it still does, it’s the t-thing that you put on my knee, it hurts”_

_”It’s called antiseptic honey and I had to put some on your knee because it was bleeding and we didn’t want for your knee to hurt badly because because of an infection now did we? How about that, I can give you a magic kiss on your knee so it doesn’t hurt anymore?” She said smiling softly._

_”You have magic?” Henry asked astonished, the pain almost already forgotten._

_”Why of course, I’m your mama and mama always has magic for her little boy when he’s hurting.”_

_”Can you kiss it better mommy please?” he asked hopefully._

_Regina pretended to think about it for a few seconds and then said ”Okay but you have to promise that next time you will listen to me when I ask you to stop running?”_

_”Yes mommy I promise can you please make the hurt stop now?” She chuckled at his choice of words_

_”Of course honey” She then lifted his leg and placed a gentle kiss on his knee and blew softly on it, as if to blow the pain away. ”So?”_

_”Mama it worked, it doesn’t hurt anymore!” He beamed with a huge smile_

_She chuckled and replied ”I’m sure it doesn’t now”_

_”Thank you mommy!” And at that moment, Henry looked at her as if she was his Hero, he had so much magic and adoration in his eyes. After all, she was everything to him and it felt good to know that her son was looking up to her._

_She smiled softly at him, her eyes a bit watery ”You’re very welcome baby”_

_”Mama?”_

_”Yes Henry?”_

_”I’m not a baby anymore.” He said, trying to make a serious face. Regina laughed and ruffled his hair softly ”Of course not sweetie.” He seemed pleased with her answer so she added ”But you will always be my baby.” She kissed him on the head and he tried to look at her with a put on his face but it only made her chuckle again._

  
”Regina?” Emma asked seeing Regina chuckle to herself softly.

”Yes? Sorry I was… lost in my thoughts.”, she answered, her smile quickly fading as she remembered that she was caressing her dead little boy’s hair.

Emma had moved and had been sitting besides Regina for a few minutes probably, She couldn’t say. She only noticed when Emma took her hand in hers and asked ”You were thinking about Henry weren’t you? About a god memory you have with him?”

”Yes I…” she sighed ”I was thinking about his 4th birthday, the first he ever looked at me as if I was his hero.” She said chuckling. ”If only i would have known at that time, how that would reverse..” Regina added sadly

”Hey, you were changing and Henry knew that, he _saw_ it. You should have seen the way his face lit up when he saw you for the first time here, he knew you would come to try to save him, he knew you wouldn’t let him down because you’re… you are his mom. The one he said his first word to, the one he tried to walk to when _you_ were teaching him to walk, the one he said his first ‘I love you’ to and the one who soothed every fever and kissed every boo boo better you… I’m not-” Emma’s voice broke and she couldn’t keep the sob in this time.

”Oh Emma….” Regina said leaning in to take her in her arms. Emma put her head on her shoulder and started to sob in Regina’s soft arms. She felt so right, it was as if those arms were made to hold her. She decided to let herself cry in her arms, letting her sweet apple smell invade her senses.

Regina held the crying blonde in her arms. Emma had spent hours trying to soothe her despair, it was her turn now. She couldn’t imagine what Emma must feel, she barely got to know their son and he’s already gone.  
She rubbed Emma’s back softly, letting her cry.

”Emma you know I could tell you about him, his childhood, how he was as a baby..” she said smiling to her.

Emma lifted her head, her sobs quieting slowly. ”You really would?”

”Of course, you _are_ his mother as well Emma, you get to know about him. You could come over some night and we could watch his photo albums, I could tell you stories about him around a glass of wine and a nice dinner… Would you like that?” Regina asked with a little smile.

Emma’s heart bursted with joy at that moment, the woman she had grown to like (even more than she should have) was actually offering her a nice dinner and to share memories of their son. Emma couldn’t say if it was her being an emotional wreck, or just the feeling in the moment, but she leaned in and pressed her lips softly on Regina’s red lips. The kiss was a bit unsure at the beginning, but Emma deepened it when she felt Regina start to kiss her back.

David was growing worried, ever since Regina had sent him and Snow on the deck with her magic, they hadn’t heard of neither of them. He didn’t know what to expect with Regina, she seemed so off when he had come to talk to her earlier, but his heart broke for the woman. She was changing, trying to be a better person for her son; and she did. She did change and she certainly didn’t deserve that pain, she had suffered enough her whole life. He had come to appreciate her during that time when Emma and Snow were in the Enchanted Forest. He got to see a part of herself that he hadn’t seen before: the motherly part of her.

He decided to go check on them in Henry’s cabin. When he thought he would find them fighting or crying, he certainly didn’t expect to find them kissing.  
David was speechless, to say the least, standing at the doorway, seeing his daughter and Regina kissing. He thought about interrupting them to let them know that he was there, but they seemed pretty pleased with themselves so he just chuckled to himself and let them be, leaving discreetly.

When they had to pull back to breathe, Emma put her forehead against Regina and whispered ”I’d love that.” with a smile.

”What are we doing Emma, I mean look at us! A week ago we were fighting like cats and dogs over Henry and… pretty much everything, and now we’re.. we..” Regina didn’t know how to finish her sentence, so she sighed and let Emma talk.

”Well I think I know someone who would be pleased to know that we aren’t fighting anymore, at least for now…” Emma said taking a glance at Henry

”You… You think he would be okay with… whatever this is?”

”Regina… Henry had the heart of the truest Believer… If _anyone_ can believe in us… If anyone can believe that fairytales and happy endings aren’t always what we think they would be, it would be Henry” Emma said smiling at her son, and then locking eyes with Regina.

”So what is this exactly, between _us_? What did that mean to you? Is there an ‘us’?” Regina asked, looking at Emma straight in the eyes.

”Well I…” Emma started, she didn’t know exactly how to respond since she was never one to express her feelings. But what she did knew, was that that kiss didn’t mean nothing to her.

”That kiss didn’t mean nothing to me Regina, that I know. I’ve been feeling things, for awhile now and I… I guess I just couldn’t deal with them so I kind of… Tried to shut them down? And about _us_ I think… There could be? Maybe?”

”Wait so you mean that you’ve had feeling for me … the whole time?” Regina asked slowly

”Well I mean, something changed in me since the first time I saw you and then I guess it just escalated, you know. I’m sorry if I went too far I-” Emma said avoiding Regina’s eyes now.

”No no Emma you didn’t go too far, it’s just I didn’t expect that I guess. I’ve had feelings too you know… But I just didn’t take the time to consider them, you were a threat and I had to get rid of you. I’m so sorry Emma, for everything… ”

Emma took Regina’s hand and squeezed it ”It’s okay, we will have time to talk about everything once we’re home and settled, I don’t think now is a great time to let everything out.”

”You’re right, we should continue that later. I need to talk to David, I’ll see you later” Regina said squeezing Emma’s hand one last time and placing a small kiss on her cheek, before leaving.

It didn’t take Regina long to find him. She found him sitting alone on the deck, so she decided to join him, sitting beside him.

”Thank you, David.”

David was startled by the sudden voice beside him, he was lost in his thoughts and didn’t notice her sitting beside him.

”Oh hey. For what?”

”For what you told me before, in the cabin… you told me you would be here if I needed someone to talk to and I didn’t react much at the time, but I appreciate it, really. So, thank you David” She told him with recognition.

”Oh, of course Regina, and I meant it, really.” He said squeezing her hand.

”I know…” Regina answered with a small smile.

there was a comfortable silence settled between them for a few seconds, David was the first who broke that silence.

”You killed Pan. Do you remember about that?” he asked looking at her in the eyes.

”I… What? No I… I don’t remember?” She asked surprised.

”I figured you wouldn’t remember, I’ve been thinking about it. You stabbed him in the heart without even blinking, with the blade he used to kill… Henry.”

Regina was astonished for a second and then answered ”You think it was the Queen don’t you?”

”Yes, I’ve been thinking about it, it would be the reason why you didn’t react to Henry’s death right away, and why you seemed off, until you ‘woke up’ ”

”She’s protecting me, you know?” Regina said with a nostalgic smile. She was glad to have changed, she was glad that she wasn’t as Evil as she used too, but she wasn't sorry the Evil Queen was still there. In a way, she was protecting her, taking over control when things became just too much, to prevent her to just succumb to her despair.  
And above all, she was glad to hear that ‘she’ had killed Pan. That bastard did not get away with what he did at least.

”I know, I figured that she was here for a reason, and I have nothing against that, just next time maybe ask her not to strangle my wife? Even though she kind of deserved a little waking up..” he said chuckling

Regina looked sheepishly at him when she answered ”I hum.. I think that part was my own doing…” David just chuckled shaking his head

”You know, even though I don’t think Snow would be okay with this, I would be totally okay with it.” David said after a few seconds of silence.

”What do you mean?” Regina asked frowning.

”I mean you and Emma. I kind of saw you earlier…”

”What? I- you- uh… How?” Regina didn’t know what to say anymore, she was completely taken aback, he didn’t see them kissing did he?

”I was going to check on the both of you and when I arrived at the cabin you uh.. You two were kissing and since you seemed to be enjoying yourselves I decided not to interrupt and just leave you to it..”

”Oh my god…” Regina said putting her head in her hands, this was so embarrassing.

”Hey it’s okay, I told you I’m totally fine with this and I’ll talk to Snow. I get it.”

”You do?”

”Of course. You are going through one of the worst thing parents could live right now and you two need one another. Death brings people together, as it separate others. You were both his mothers and to be honest I saw the way you two have been looking at each other for some time now…” He took her hand and added ”And I’m totally okay with this, I am happy that my daughter has you, Regina.”

”David…” Regina was touched by David’s words, she didn’t except that from him, she didn't expect for him to see them in the first place.

”I… You do know there isn’t anything just yet right?”

”I do know that, but just so you know, I won’t be an obstacle in whatever relationship you might develop with my daughter.”

”Not that I’d let you anyway…” Regina said smirking, which made David chuckle

”That you wouldn’t.” He laughed and squeezed her hand, before he stood and left Regina with her thoughts.

As she was sitting on the deck, looking at the peaceful sea, Regina couldn’t help but feel hopeful. Her darling boy had died and she thought nothing would be left for her. He was her only reason to carry on after all, her reason to live. During the time she was alone in that cabin, she had time to have thoughts so dark. She had thought about taking that blade and stab it through her own heart, right before David entered to try and comfort her. She wanted to join her little prince, but then she thought that maybe he didn’t want her to. So she had just sat there, alone with her dark thoughts.

But suddenly there was this slight possibility, a glimpse of hope, that she might find happiness again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one was pretty dark... Please tell me what you think about it and don't forget to review :)  
> X


	3. Emma takes care of Regina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre-curse sq, Emma takes care of Regina after a nasty fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I'm back with another chapter, this one is short but I have finals so I don't have much time... Hope you enjoy this one for now :)

The first thing she noticed was a cold and wet cloth pressed gently over her temples, and the second thing she noticed was the sweet cinnamon perfume of the town’s Sheriff that she had learned to care about, in her own difficult way. However, if somebody ever asked her if she cared about the Sheriff, she would instantly deny it. Hell, she was even denying it to herself. How could she ever care for the woman who was stealing her son, the same woman who was supposed to break her curse and destroy her life? No, she just couldn’t…  
She was laying on her couch, she noticed as she started to slowly run her fingers over the pillow settled next to her. She could barely move and couldn’t open her eyes just yet. She should probably feel scared to be on her couch, barely able to move without any idea as to what could have happened to her to be in that state. But oddly enough, she didn’t feel that way at all, for the first time in a very long time, she actually felt _safe_.  
She decided to let herself enjoy the sweet and bitter smell of cinnamon that was floating around her for a few seconds, until she finally found the strength to open her eyes.

"Em….ma.."

Emma was kneeled in front of the small living room table, preparing some hot tea, Regina figured, as Emma suddenly turned over to look at her.  
As soon as she saw Regina’s two beautiful brown orbs open, Emma hurried back to the couch to help her get more comfortable.

"Regina, you’re awake" Emma said smiling, Regina could swear that she saw a hint of relief going through Emma eyes.

"What h.. happened?"  
  
"Henry told me you weren’t feeling very well and when he saw you passed out on the living room floor and he couldn’t wake you up, he got scared and called me" Emma explained gently. "You hit your head on the ground pretty badly when you fell though, how are you feeling?" She asked as she started to run her fingers softly through Regina’s hair. She couldn’t help it, Regina looked so cute with her pretty sleepy face.

Regina only blinked at her for a second, she wasn’t expecting the gentle touch and was so taken aback that when she saw the worry in Emma’s beautiful green eyes, she almost believed it.

"I’m uh… I’m fine, my head is hurting a little but it’s nothing that a good sleep won’t heal." Regina said trying to sound emotionless, but Emma saw the way she flinched when she started talking and wasn’t buying it. She decided to let it go just for this once.

"Well then I’m sure Henry will be happy to learn that." Emma answered with a soft smile.

"Henry, is he still…"

"No, I sent him at Mary-Margaret’s for the night so you wouldn’t have to worry about taking care of him for the evening while you rest, he wasn’t all that happy to leave you though… He was pretty shaken seeing you in that state.." Emma started but couldn’t finish her answer as regina interrupted her.

"You don’t need to tell me those things to make me feel better, I know pretty well how my son feels about me and it is not worry. Anger perhaps, disgust, shame… but not worry." Regina said sadly, her eyes started to water against her will and she lowered her head, she hated herself for being so vulnerable in front of Emma, yet again.

"Hey hey no…" Emma said putting a finger under Regina’s chin to lift her head back up so she could meet her eyes. "Regina… I am not lying when I say that Henry was really scarred and unhappy to leave you there. He actually wanted to take care of you" Emma said smiling "He made me promise to take care of you and that I wouldn’t leave you alone until he came back."  
Regina’s eyes started to water again as she answered.

"He… he did?"

Emma saw the hope in the woman’s eyes and in that moment, she started feeling sorry for her, Henry really hadn’t taken it easy on her for the past year. She felt the urge to comfort the other woman and started stroking her left cheek with her hand while she answered.

"Of course he did. Regina, Henry is a kid, almost a teen now and he didn’t realize how much he was hurting you by pushing you away like he did those past months, he loves you, you know, and i can see why." Emma answered softly with a smile, still stroking Regina’s cheek.

Regina however, started to come back to her senses and quickly got away from Emma’s hand, feeling uncomfortable and suddenly very exposed. she started feeling things she hadn’t in a very long time and it couldn’t be good. She cleared her throat before saying:

"Yes well, maybe you’re seeing wrong."

Emma was about to reply when Regina started to talk again.

"Weren’t you making some tea anyway? isn’t it going to get cold?"

"Uh.. yeah of course, i assume you want some?" Regina nodded and Emma poured her a cup of tea, before handling it to her.

"Thank you, Sheriff Swan." Regina said without even looking at her. Emma was a bit startled by Regina’s sudden coldness but she didn’t show it, despite everything that woman was still a mystery to her.

A few minutes had passed and Regina was already feeling better (although it was absolutely NOT thanks to the blonde Sheriff taking care of her, at least, that’s what she told herself..) Emma was smiling at her, looking so lost in her thoughts that it made Regina even more uncomfortable.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing it’s just… you called me Emma earlier" Emma answered still smiling softly at Regina.

"Yes well ‘Sheriff Swan’ was a bit too long since i could barely move my lips now wasn’t it?" Regina said a bit too much on the defensive.

"Yeah I suppose it was…" a look of hurt and disappointment appeared in Emma’s eyes but she tried to shake them off as soon as they appeared.

However, Emma wasn’t as subtile as she intended to and Regina regretted her words as soon as she caught a glimpse of Emma’s hurtful look. She opened her mouth to apologize to her but Emma beat her to it.

"Well, since you’re feeling better Madam Mayor, I should probably go now, wouldn’t want to intrude into your house since I am clearly not wanted here." she said as she started to get up, however, a small and shy hand caught hers before she could actually get up, and Emma was surprised to see the remorseful look on the Mayor’s face.

"Wait no Emma I’m sorry.. snapping at you.. I shouldn’t have.. would you please accept my apology?"

This took Emma by surprise and she actually didn’t know what to answer, so she just nodded her head to let the Mayor know that she was indeed accepting her apology.

"Emma I…. why?" Regina asked and once again took Emma by surprise

"Why what…?"

"Why would you even care about me? You heard our son, he said I was evil, that I didn’t deserve people’s kindness so why would I even deserve yours?" Regina wasn’t angry when she said that, what Emma could see was actually anxiousness.

"Because Regina I just don’t believe you are evil, simply misunderstood. Just look at our son, he is so kind, loving and smart. How could he turn like this if had an evil mother?" Emma had taken her hands while she was talking and Regina didn’t seem to mind since she hadn’t taken them back yet.

"Because he had you as a mother Emma… You gave birth to him, how could he ever turn out badly.." Regina answered with sadness in her eyes, Emma shook her head and answered.

"At first, I was staying here because I feared about his safety with you.. but now that I know that he is perfectly fine in here with you I still can’t… I just can’t bring myself to leave town."

"But why?!" Regina answered almost shouting as she started to get irritated by Emma’s kind behavior.

"Damn it Regina, YOU! I am falling for you can’t you see it?" Emma was shouting and throwing her hands in the air in desperation, why couldn’t Regina just see?? She hadn’t exactly been very subtle the past weeks, throwing glances at her and always trying to annoy her, because a pissed Regina is also a very sexy Regina, even more than she usually is, and Emma just couldn’t help herself.

No… Emma couldn’t just…. it wasn’t possible, Regina thought. She had made herself unlovable and she had lost the love of her life decades ago (well more like centuries..). But as she looked into these soft green eyes, she just couldn’t see the lie. She wished she could believe her though, but she just couldn’t

"Emma no. You don’t really feel that way trust m…" Regina started slowly but couldn't finish her answer when Emma interrupted her again.

"You stubborn woman." Emma said, grabbing Regina’s cheeks and pressing softly her lips against hers. If Emma didn’t believe in heaven, she sure did now. Regina’s red lips tasted like apple and couldn’t seem to get enough of the taste of her on her own lips. They started slowly, Regina still unsure if she should push the other woman away and slap her or just put her hands in Emma’s soft and blonde hair and kiss the hell out of her. She choose the second option, fortunately for Emma as she deepened the kiss and showed Regina just how much she cared for her.

Emma lost herself in the kiss and started to grab Regina’s soft hair a bit harder, completely forgetting about the other woman’s injury, until she felt Regina gasp a bit into the kiss

"Shit sorry!" Emma said quickly, removing herself from regina.

"Language Emma." Regina said, amused by her reaction.

Emma started to stroke Regina’s hair again gently, checking that she hadn’t hurt her too bad and asked "Are you okay?"

Regina smiled, cupped Emma cheek and answered "I am now." before kissing her lips softly.

For once, Regina felt at peace with her actions and she told herself that tonight, she would let herself be cared for by the woman who made her heart beat faster every time she saw her. Tonight, she would just enjoy that feeling before everything turns back into chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, don't hesitate to leave a review if you did :)
> 
> Lisa x


	4. Chapter 4: The Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma prepares a surprise to Regina, however things don't go as planned for Emma, as usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! First of all I'm so sorry I took so long for this one, but as I said on my last notes I had my finals (that I passed yay) and then this chapter took me longer than I thought it would, I even wanted to abandon it at some point but my beta Melly kept encouraging me to finish it, so thanks Melly!
> 
> So this is actually a sequel to chapter 1, I'm not sure how this one will go because this is a first, so I hope you'll like it! Reviews are welcome as usual :)
> 
> Enjoy :)

Emma started to play with the little box in her hand, tonight was the night and she didn't know if she felt excited or completely terrified about it. What if she said no? Or worse, what if she left her? No, that couldn't happen… right?

They had been together for a bit more than 3 years now, and happily so. They had come out to Emma's parents and the rest of the town 2 years ago, and were now parents of a beautiful little girl named Olivia, born a year ago.

She's a sweetheart really, all Regina, except for her eyes and maybe her temper (thank god for that, Emma thought). She has light brown hair and Emma's beautiful emerald eyes, she also has Regina's lips and nose and Emma has always found that so cute because she just loves Regina's little nose. Hell she loves everything about Regina and their daughter is just perfect.

Her thoughts were interrupted by soft giggles coming from downstairs. Emma quickly hid the little box again and made her way down to the kitchen where the giggles were coming from.

If she thought her family couldn't be any cuter, well she was wrong. Henry was cooking breakfast while Regina was feeding their daughter with her own baby breakfast and playing with her. Emma decided to stay there and lean against the door frame to just look at them for a minute, unnoticed.

"Okay honey open your mouth for mommy?" Regina said smiling softly at Olivia, who all but obeyed with an (almost) toothy grin. But just as she was about to grab the now empty spoon Regina tickled her under her chin.

Emma smiled watching her daughter and her (hopefully) soon-to-be wife giggle together. She was about to make her presence known when Regina started to speak again to their daughter.

"Do you think mommy knows that we're actually aware she's hiding at the door frame watching us?"

"Hey I'm not hiding" Emma said smiling as she came closer and kissed Regina softly on the mouth.

"Of course you weren't." Regina said with a smirk, placing another kiss on Emma cheek.

"Hi sweetheart!" Emma cheered at Olivia kissing her head softly and caressing her baby cheek.

"Hey ma." Henry said from the back of the kitchen, finishing what smelled like pancakes, while Emma said "hi" back.

"Took you long enough to wake up dear, I thought I would do so myself but then changed my mind because you looked like you could really use some bonus sleep…" Regina said smirking at Emma. Oh of course she knew she needed that bonus hour of sleep.

"Well I'll let you know, I've been pretty busy last night doing… stuff." Emma said grabbing a pancake.

Regina chuckled darkly. "doing 'stuff' uh?" she said eying Emma with a smirk.

They both turned to Henry when he almost shouted "Moms!" making a disgusted face. "You do know I'm old enough to understand your not so subtle conversation now, right?"

Regina blushed slightly, bitting her lower lip and looking at Emma, who just sighed and said "Yeah well, you're growing way too fast for my liking kid." She then turned to Olivia who played completely unaware with the forgotten spoon on the table.

"And you young lady, need to stop growing so fast as well, I feel like you were born just yesterday" she said as she playfully touched the tip of her little nose with her finger.

"Oh this definitely did _not_ happen yesterday dear trust me, you were not the one in labour for 16 hours, you'd know" Regina said rolling her eyes at Emma.

Emma smiled softly and answered "I know babe, and this is why I love you so much." before kissing her on the cheek. "And by the way, my crushed left hand does remember about this" she added, which earned her a slap on the arm by Regina.

"Mama!" They were interrupted by Olivia who lifted her arms toward Emma for her to pick her up from her high chair. Emma chuckled and picked her up, kissed her cheek and then looked at Regina.

"Hey I was thinking about bringing her to my parents for the day perhaps? They haven't seen her in a while, I know they'd love to keep her for a few hours. And you could take some time to yourself then, it's been sometime…" Emma said carefully.

"Yeah I suppose I could… It's been sometime indeed, I can't remember when was the last time I had a day for myself." Regina said, coming closer to Emma and their daughter. "But how can I resist being far from that little angel uh?" she said smiling, stroking her daughter's hair and kissing her softly on the head.

"Well then I guess it's your lucky day Madam Mayor, since I took you a day at the spa where you'll finally be able to relax a bit" Emma answered, handing her a spa ticket for the day.

"Oh is that so Sheriff Swan?" Regina said smirking, taking the ticket. "I guess I _am_ a lucky woman then." She smiled and pecked Emma on the lips softly "Thank you babe, I really needed this"

"Of course, now go and enjoy, I got everything under control here"

Regina went upstairs to change her clothes for her day at the spa, she was a bit suspicious as to why did Emma really arrange her a day for herself but well, she guessed it really was just a random little gift.

When she was done she came back downstairs to find her family in the kitchen again.

"Alright I'm leaving, I guess I'll see you tonight then" she said waving at her family

"Bye mom"

"See you Gina"

Henry and Emma answered both at the same time. As soon as the door was shut, Emma turned to Henry.

"Alright kid, I'm gonna need a favor today."

"Yeah… Go on…" Henry replied, unsure.

"I'm gonna need the house for myself until tomorrow morning, so I'd like for you to go to grandma with your sister for the night, would that be okay?" Emma asked with an apprehensive smile.

"Uh… yes sure, but why exactly? Why did you send mom away for the day, and now you need the house until tomorrow too? You're up to something, I can tell because you look hella tense right now, so what's going on?" he asked narrowing his eyes at his mom.

Emma was hesitant, she didn't know if she could tell him right away, she wasn't even sure Regina would say yes in the first place, so she opted for another answer instead, knowing that he would understand what she meant and wouldn't ask further questions on the matter.

"Well I … I've planned something for your mother tonight, because you know hum… It's been a long time since we've had the house to ourselves since your sister arrived and uh… Adults sometimes need time to themselves because you know-"

"-Alright alright got it I… don't need the details thanks.." Henry said covering his ears. He then walked to Emma and took his sister in his arms. "Alright Ollie how about we go prepare your bag for our sleepover at grandma and grandpa tonight?" he asked tickling her side and she laughed, nodding happily and completely unaware about everything happening around her at the moment.

"Thanks kid, I'll owe you I suppose?" Emma said knowingly, smirking at him.

"Oh yeah… three ice creams at Granny's at least!" he answered from the stairs and Emma chuckled to herself. He was growing, that was for sure, but old habits die hard right?

They drove to the Charmings' loft half an hour later, Emma parked in front of the building and turned to Henry.

"So hum kid, your grandparents are actually unaware that you two are staying overnight here, so I'm kinda gonna need you to play along and ask them very nicely if your sister and you could stay overnight…"

Henry sighed and answered "Fine, make it four ice creams."

"Deal." Emma chuckled before taking her daughter from her carseat while Henry was carrying their overnight bags and heading inside of the building.

The Charmings had immediately agreed, they hadn't seen little Olivia for quite some time and they could never say no to their grandson whenever he wanted to stay overnight.

Emma drove back home and prepared everything for the night. She had decided to cook the only recipe Regina had taught her that she could actually cook: lasagnas.

Everything was ready, the table was set as well as the candles, the flowers… everything. Emma was more and more anxious. She looked at the clock and saw that regina would be home in about 2 hours now. She had prepared everything and asked the people who would take care of Regina today if they could release her 2 hours early, so that everything could go as Emma had planned.

Emma took her phone and started to text Regina.

_"Hey lovely, I heard someone was finished early today ;) I got a little surprise for you at home, why don't you use that spare time u got to look for a new dress for tonight?_

_PS: kids are gone, feel free to add whatever you feel like wearing under that pretty dress you'll choose, if you decide to wear anything at all that is ;)_

_Can't wait to find out, love ya_

_Em x"_

Emma smiled to herself pressing send, she couldn't wait to see what Regina would choose. She left for the bathroom and saw her phone buzzing on the table when she came back a couple of minutes later. She quickly took it and saw that Regina had answered.

_"What do you mean the kids are gone? Emma Swan what did you do with my kids? You better reply fast." 5:11pm_

_"Emma?" 5:13pm_

Emma chuckled when she read her answers. That was really all she actually acknowledged of the whole text, classic Regina, she thought. She took her phone and answered

_"Oh I see that's all you got from my text ;) relax they're at my parents for the night, Ollie missed her grandparents and Henry didn't wanna leave his sister all alone for the night so u know, we kinda have the house to ourselves until tomorrow morning, thought we could make good use of it… ;)_

_x"_

Emma pressed send and didn't have to wait long for Regina's answer.

_"Well then I guess you'll just have to wait and find out … Love x"_

Emma smiled to herself reading the text and then headed to the bathroom again to prepare herself for what she hoped would be one of the best night of her life.

…

Everything was ready. Regina would be home in a few minutes and Emma was more and more nervous. She stopped the running water into the sink to leave the dishes to soak for some time and grabbed the little box resting next to the sink. She opened it and stared at the ring again, taking it carefully in her fingers. Had she chosen well? Would Regina like it? Emma shook her head and grabbed the little box again to put the ring back in it, she was overthinking and if she continued she would just end up ruining everything.

"Damn it!" Emma said, as the box fell into the water with the dishes. "Leave it to me to ruin everything before it has even started." She mumbled to herself, trying to get the box back, when the doorbell rang.

Emma didn't know what to do anymore so she just quickly put the ring in the little pocket of her dress and ran to the door. She rearranged her hair before opening the door, hearing a little cling when she did. She would need to get that fixed, she thought, before her mind went completely blank seeing regina standing in front of the door with a questioning smile. She was wearing a low-cut blue dress, showing her perfect cleavage and hugging every beautiful curve of her body. The dress stopped above her knees and had a slit on the side of her left leg, going up mid-thigh.

"You should close your mouth dear before it falls on the floor," Regina said chuckling

"I… wow Regina you are… breathtaking," Emma replied, her eyes shining and looking at Regina with more love in them than ever.

It actually took Regina by surprise and she decided to change the subject before she started to feel overwhelmed, if not already.

"Thank you babe, you don't look too bad yourself. Emma Swan in a dress? Who would have thought," Regina said trying (unsuccessfully) to wink at Emma, teasing. "And here I thought you'd go with the tuxedo instead."

Emma chuckled at this, remembering their first date, when she had indeed chosen a tuxedo to take Regina out.

"Yes well, a dress is easier to take off, right?" she smiled nervously. Had she chosen the wrong outfit?

Regina laughed softly, seeing Emma genuinely worried about her outfit. "You're very beautiful tonight Emma, and you're right, a dress _does_ take less time to take off," she chuckled once again and put her right hand on Emma's cheek, kissing her softly. "Why did you close the door though? Afraid someone else might have walked in?" Regina added with questioning eyes.

"Well, let's say I wanted to welcome you properly tonight, you know, opening the door and all," Emma said, feeling reassured by Regina's words.

"Well then mission accomplished Miss Swan," Regina teased, smirking at Emma. However the smirk was long gone when she actually entered in the house and saw everything that Emma had prepared. The dimmed lights, the candles, the flowers, she was speechless.

"I think you said something about closing my mouth earlier…" Emma teased, seeing Regina completely frozen, taking everything in.

"I… Emma this is… absolutely beautiful," Regina said turning to her once again. She then decided to go with the teasing once more, trying to avoid the tears that were pooling in her eyes. "Did I miss an anniversary or something? Am I in trouble?" she teased with a chuckle.

Emma smiled and answered: "Well no (not yet, she thought), but I did want today to be special for you, for us." She took Regina's hand and started to lead her to the beautifully decorated table. "Now come on, before everything gets cold," Emma said, winking at her.

Regina smiled and sat down at the table. Emma then leaned down and kissed her cheek "Coming right back, I just have to get the food and the wine," she said before disappearing into the kitchen. Regina didn't know what to think of all this, but she was touched that Emma was doing all of this, Regina really _was_ a lucky woman, she thought.

Emma came back with 2 full plates of lasagna and a bottle of wine a couple of minutes later.

"Oh my, you actually cooked? Who are you and what have you done to my girlfriend? The Emma Swan I know wouldn't even know how to cook fried eggs." Regina laughed as Emma put the plates and the wine on the table.

"Hey I'll let you know I can cook fried eggs. And what can I say, I've had the best teacher," Emma said, smirking at Regina, who chuckled and took a bite at the lasagnas and moaned at the taste of them, making Emma's heart beat faster in her chest.

"Emma they're absolutely delicious! I can't believe you cooked this, you actually surpassed yourself tonight babe," Regina said taking Emma's hand in hers and smiling.

Emma chuckled, touched and replied teasingly "Wait until you see the rest."

Regina chuckled as well and they went on, eating and talking, laughing every now and then, looking already married without any of them realising it.

They had finished dinner and Emma was about to go get the dessert when Regina got up.

"I'll be right back babe, I just need to remove these upstairs because they're hurting me" Regina said pointing at her earrings.

Emma looked at Regina and was a bit relieved because she would have a couple of bonus minutes to prepare herself for the proposal.

"Of course take all the time you need," Emma said smiling at Regina and kissing her cheek softly.

Regina disappeared upstairs and Emma went to the kitchen to take the dessert and put it on the table. When she was done she went back to the kitchen and took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy, she thought as she put her hand on the oh so small pocket of her dress to take the ring in her hand, except that to her biggest surprise, she didn't find any ring on it.

"Damn it!" Emma said, searching frantically for the ring everywhere in the kitchen. It couldn't have gone far away right?

She searched on the counter, the table, the water where she had dropped the little box, the floor… everywhere. She was so sure she had put it in her pocket. Emma felt tears pool in her eyes, when suddenly she thought about something…That's it! It must have fallen when they were eating dinner and they didn't hear it.

Emma hurried back to the table and bumped into Regina, who placed her hands on Emma's shoulders to steady her back on her feet.

"Woa Emma easy there." Regina said chuckling.

"Wow sorry I didn't think you were back yet," Emma replied laughing nervously.

"Why, are you going somewhere? Trying to escape while I was gone?" Regina said smirking at her.

"No I just wanted to check on the dessert quickly before you came back but well, you're here now" Emma had a fake smile on her face and watched as Regina smiled back, completely oblivious and sat down at the table.

Emma sat down as well and started to look discretely around the table to find the ring.

"Looking for something?" Regina smiled nervously when Emma lifted her eyes to hers.

"I hum…" Emma tried to find something, anything as an excuse but couldn't find any so she decided to try and change the subject, seeing that Regina was becoming nervous.

"Are you okay? You haven't touched your dessert yet-"

"-Oh yes I'm fine I just… ate quite a lot of lasagnas you know, I'm basically full already," Regina said quickly, chuckling. "I'm sorry honey you probably spent time on this I-" Regina started but Emma answered before she could finish her sentence.

"No no it's okay I don't want your stomach to ache babe." She smiled at her and kept looking for the damn thing that had disappeared.

"I can't find it!" Emma said out of frustration

"Find what dear?" Regina asked with questioning eyes.

"What? oh uh… nothing important…" Emma hadn't realized she had said it out loud and let out a sigh.

"Emma…" Regina smiled softly at her, looking for something in her pocket.

"What are you-" Emma started but froze when she saw Regina holding a ring in her fingers. "Where did you find it?" Emma asked shocked.

"What are you talking about…?" Regina asked Emma, confused, until she saw Emma's eyes on the ring she was currently holding.

"Emma are you talking about the ring? But why-" She started and stopped mid-sentence when she finally realized what was going on.

"Oh my… You were about to propose?" Regina asked completely taken aback. She had gone to their bedroom earlier to get her own ring that she had brought for Emma, taking the dinner as a good opportunity but she hadn't even thought that Emma would propose herself.

"Yeah… And I screwed everything up as usual." Emma sighed and tilted her head down.

"Oh honey…" Regina got up and lifted Emma's chin to meet her beautiful green eyes "You haven't ruined anything." Regina smiled softly cupping her cheek, then she kissed her cheek and whispered "Just let me."

She got down on one knee and took Emma's hand, who already had tears in her eyes.

"Emma… I don't even know where to start" Regina chuckled. "You've been in my life for the past 5 years now, and those few years have been the best years of my life. I know we haven't always had the best moments, some would even say we hated each other" They both laughed and tears started to fall from their eyes. "but I never really hated you. There was always something preventing me from this and I never knew what, until that night 3 years ago when you first kissed me." Regina laughed again through tears, while Emma's hand was shaking in her own. Regina held Emma's hand tighter and continued. "I kept shouting at you I don't even remember why, and you shut my mouth up with your own" She laughed. "It felt so right, _we_ felt so right. There's a thin line between love and hate, and that night you made me finally realise what I truly felt, and it wasn't hate. You believed in me when no one else did and saw me for who I really was at the time, not who I was in the past, you saved me from the others and even from myself at times, Emma Swan you are my savior, my love, my family, and I hope soon enough my wife. Regina's voice was shaking and tears were now freely running on her cheeks. "Will you marry me Emma?"

To say that Emma was a total mess was an understatement. She had prepared everything to propose to Regina, but she wasn't prepared for Regina to propose. She didn't think she would, because as always Emma felt like she wasn't good enough, she was actually afraid Regina would say no. But it's ridiculous right? They have 2 beautiful children, one created by the both of them with the purest magic of all: True Love.

At this moment Emma felt like she was finally were she belonged, and more importantly she felt _loved._ For the major part of life, not to say her whole life, Emma had always felt unwanted, unloved and never felt like she belonged.

But now finally feeling all those emotions, Emma couldn't help but be a sobbing mess, which actually worried Regina.

"Emma honey…?" Regina searched Emma's eyes with her own, clearly worried. "Did I say something wrong? Whatever I said please forg-" Regina started but was cut by Emma who grabbed her whole hand and pulled her towards herself, crashing her mouth on hers in a loving and passionate kiss.

Regina landed on Emma's lap, her legs on each side of her body and Emma put one hand on the bottom of her back so regina would stay seated right where she was. The angle in which she had landed was a bit awkward and had made her dress ride up higher on her thighs.

They kept kissing until Emma put both of her hands beneath Regina's thighs and got up, carrying Regina who put her hands around Emma's neck giggling soflty, until she reached the back of the sofa, where she carefully sat Regina down and started to kiss her again.

Regina broke the kiss, breathless, and took Emma's face in her hands looking at her in the eyes and whipping her tears away with her thumb.

"So is that a yes?" Regina asked with a soft smile caressing Emma's cheeks tenderly.

"Oh my god YES of course! yes, yes, and yes," Emma said kissing her every time she said yes, which made Regina laugh and tear up at the same time.

Emma looked down and saw that Regina's dress had gone even higher up her thighs and when she looked back up at her and saw that she was biting her lower lip smirking at her, Emma couldn't help but kiss that smirk away.

She then put her hands up her thighs until her fingers made contact with the soft fabric of her panties.

"So you did put something on after all?" Emma smirked at Regina who only bit her lower lip and answered "Why don't we continue this upstairs so that you can find out on your own?"

"That's actually a great idea," Emma said as she put one of her arms under Regina's knees and the other one on her back and carried her bride style up the stairs to their bedroom, laughing at Regina's little yelp and laugh.

As they made their way upstairs, neither of them saw the tiny little object shining on the carpet at the front-door.

Yes, tonight was indeed one of Emma's best night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it for this one, I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I'll be taking prompts from now on so don't hesitate to send me some and I'll do them. As for the prompts I already received, I'll write them and post them asap :)
> 
> Lisa X


	5. A Drunken Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt for beautifullife0 (ffnet): "Regina throws up in front of Emma and Emma takes care of her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm late, here's a prompt I received a few weeks ago, I know it's short but I'm currently writing an EvilCharming multichapter fic and it's not easy to keep up (if there is any EC shipper here, watch out in a few weeks ;)  
> Hope you'll like it!

It was quite late when Emma got called at the Rabbit Hole for a drunken fight. That’s all they had told her when the barmen called: 2 persons were fighting and they needed the Sheriff. 

When she arrived there, to say that she was surprised to see who was actually fighting was an understatement.

When Emma entered in the pub, a glass shattered on the wall right next to her head and when she turned her head to see where the glass had come from, she saw Regina and Hook in a big fight. She wasn’t sure which one was the drunkest or why they were fighting, all she knew was that she had to stop this. Now.

Hook had thrown Regina against a table and she had fought back by lifting him from the ground and chocking him with magic, visibly still in pain. Emma ran to Regina and took her by the wrist to put her arm down, but Regina was stubborn and wouldn’t let go.

"Regina… Regina! Come on stop now," Emma said grabbing her whole self now. Hook fell on the ground grabbing his neck in an attempt to soothe it and tried to breathe again.

"Let m-me go E-Emma!" Regina said still fighting her. Emma turned to one of the barmen and said, "You, take him outside to the back for a few minutes and make sure he goes home safe, I’ll take care of her." She took Regina by the arm and dragged her outside, "Come on, let’s go." 

She walked Regina to the exit and let go of her arm.

"Do I need to handcuff you Regina?" Emma said with a sigh.

Regina laughed, actually _laughed_ and answered, "Why Em-ma I didn’t know you were kinkyy, do y-you want to handcuff m-me, _Sheriff_?" she leaned on her a bit more and giggled.

Emma couldn’t help the snort that left her lips, she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Regina _that_ drunk, if she ever had. She shook her head and took Regina by the arm again, gently and pulled her towards the passenger seat. "Okay come on _Madam Mayor_ , let’s get you home."

When Emma parked her car in front of the house, she noticed Regina was fast asleep against the window. She smirked and shook Regina’s arm to wake her up.

"Regina? Regina wake up…" Regina let out a groan and opened her eyes, confused.

"We’re in front of your house now, come on you clearly need to go to bed."

Regina got up and stepped out of the car, tripping on her own feet, but Emma caught her before she could fall. 

"Always m-my knight in s-shining armor I see," Regina giggled and Emma sighed, this was going to be a long knight.

Emma took her keys and opened the door, then walked Regina to the Sofa and sat her down. She sat next to her and looked at her.

"Alright, care to tell me why Hook and you were fighting like children at the bar?" 

Regina hesitated, but she was too intoxicated to hold her tongue. 

"He said you k-kisssed himm, Emma what t-the hell ewww…" Regina said making a disgusted face.

Emma lifted her eyebrows, her mouth slightly open in surprise. "So that’s why you two were fighting? Because I kissed him??", she asked and couldn’t help the small smile on her lips when Regina all but nodded. 

"Well first of all, I kissed him _weeks_ ago, and second of all I didn’t even enjoy it, if you wanna know."

Regina giggled at that and then made a very serious face again, staring at Emma closely.

Emma furrowed her brows at her and asked, "…What?" 

"Why don’t you kiss me?" Regina asked very seriously.

"… What??"

"Tell mee. You kissed Hook and he’s disguusting," she laughed and then added with a pout, "you never ever kissed me, w-why Emma?"

Emma didn’t know what to answer, she never thought Regina would ever think about kissing her, let alone tell her.

"I… Regina, you’re not thinking straight right now, y-" Emma started but was interrupted by Regina’s laugh.

"You’re damn right I’m not," Regina said, still laughing hard.

Emma sighed and started to get up to get some water but Regina griped her jacket and started tokiss her roughly and at first Emma was not responding, too shocked to do anything, but little by little Emma kissed her back, more gently. A few seconds later, when she felt Regina’s hand starting to wander in places they shouldn’t in her state, she ended the kiss and Regina blushed. 

"I hum… I’ll get you some water." Emma said and rushed to the kitchen, leaving Regina on the sofa.

When she came back with the water, Regina was looking on the ground looking slightly… green.

"Regina? Are you alr-" Emma started but couldn’t finish as Regina got up and ran to the bathroom, emptying the contents of her stomach in the toilet. Emma ran to her and started to gather her hair behind her head, holding it there until she finished and placing a hand on her back.

Regina had tears on her cheeks and was still emptying her stomach into the toilet. Emma whispered soothing words to her and whipped her tears, stroking her back.

When she was done, Regina put her head on the toilet bowl and closed her eyes.

"Regina hey, come on don’t stay in there," Emma said shaking her slightly for her to open her eyes.

"Hmnooo I w’nna stay hereee." Regina muffled, her head still on the toilet bowl and her eyes closed.

Emma sighed, this would indeed be a long night. She gave her a glass of water, telling her to rinse her mouth and when she did she then took Regina in her arms, putting an arm under her back and the other under her knees and carried her to her room. She laid her under the covers, putting her on her side and putting an empty bucket next to her on the ground. She put a wet cloth on Regina’s forehead, careful not to wake her up and then put the covers on Regina and started to leave but Regina took her hand, her eyes still closed when she whispered, "Don’t leave."

Emma smiled softly and took a chair that was in the corner of the room and sat down next to Regina, taking her hand and never letting go. Yes this will be a long night, and Regina will probably not remember a thing in the morning, but at least Emma knew what she had to do now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are always welcome :)  
> x


	6. A Christmas Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma Swan makes a wish on a painful night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm so sorry for the wait those last few months have been crazy and I had close to no time to write.  
> But well I'm back with a Christmas chapter since it's December and Christmas is coming (yay)  
> ps: I promise it gets better by the end.

Today was December 24th, and as usual it was a day of celebration and family reunions full of love and gifts for everyone. As usual for Emma Swan, it was a day of mourning and sadness. Four years ago today, she lost her wife to a nasty car accident. She had been late, working too much as usual and had wanted to surprise Emma with flowers to make up for missing dinner with her wife on Christmas Eve. So instead of going straight home she went to the only florist in town that was open that day and on her way back, crossed paths with the man that would destroy their lives forever.

The man had drank way too much, probably too caught up in the festivities to care, and had tried to drive home completely drunk. It was snowy and he hadn't noticed that he had gone on Regina's side of the road. She ended up in a tree trying to avoid him.

Emma was pissed. So very pissed that once again Regina had let work pass before her. She was ready to have one big talk with her once she got home, but instead Emma received that dreadful call that night. As soon as the doctors had explained what had happened, Emma felt like her heart had sunk into her stomach. They had said that she'd make it, that everything would be fine and her wife would be back on her feet in no time, except that it never happened. Regina passed away on the operation table that night, without even saying goodbye.

As for the man that had caused Regina's undoing, he had barked into the hospital babbling something about being so sorry and asking if 'the woman' was okay, exactly two minutes after the doctors had come to tell her that her wife had sadly passed away, the blow to her head too serious for her to make it. And Emma couldn't take it anymore. She hadn't even let the man finish and had jumped on him with everything that she had. She had punched him hard, again and again, her hand bleeding more and more as she kept punching a little bit harder every time. She was screaming and crying as she was punching the man that was now lying on the ground and the whole hospital was probably staring but she couldn't care less. Three security guys had to hold her to prevent her from killing the man

Once he had realized what he had done, killing a woman- a beloved wife, a dear friend, a sister, a  _mother_  and destroying her whole family in the process, he couldn't bear it. He had killed himself two weeks after Regina's oh so painful funerals. He had a wife and two young kids, but Emma couldn't even bring herself to feel sorry for them. She had lost her wife, her son had lost his mother, her sister in law had lost her sister, the only direct family she had left, and countless of other people had lost their dear friend. So no, they didn't get to have Emma's sympathy.

So yes, today was for Emma one of the worst days of the year. She was trying, like every year for the past four years, to be cheerful for the sake of her son. Henry was only four when he lost his beloved 'mama' and as much as Emma wished he didn't, he was hurting too, so much.

Every year Emma would try and make Christmas Eve the best day she could for her son because no, a 7 year old boy shouldn't spend his Christmas crying in his mother's arms in mourning. A 7 year old boy should be excited for Santa to come and bring gifts for him to open the next morning. This year Emma asked her parents to take Henry for the night, as she didn't want for him to be sad once again on that day. He would get to spend the night and the next morning with his grandparents and his uncle Neal. They were almost the same age, Emma just hoped Henry would have a good time for once.

So tonight Emma was alone at the house, glancing at the clock almost every minutes, as if waiting for that terrible moment. 11:45pm… four years ago, Regina Mills would die 10 minutes later, and Emma's entire world would collapse. She couldn't stay here and do nothing, she just couldn't. So she took her coat and her car keys and just drove away, not realizing where she was going until she was there.

When she stopped her car, Emma found herself in front of the cemetery and sighed. Of course of all places she would go there. She got out of the car and walked slowly to her wife's grave. She crouched down in front of it, trying to warm herself up, the snow freezing her feet slowly, and read once again the inscriptions written on the monument,  _'Regina Mills, beloved wife and mother'._ A tear made its way on Emma's cheek. She hadn't come here in months, the last time was when Henry had requested it. When he'd seen how badly his mother was hurting just standing in front of the cemetery, he had never asked again. Why did it have to be her? Emma shook her head and whipped the tear away angrily, not wanting to be weak once again. She looked up at the grave again and murmured slowly "Hi…" and then smiled softly.

"I can't believe those were the very first words I ever said to you, how original… and now here I am…" Emma said, the smile fading from her face slowly. "I'm sorry it took me so long to come back here, I just… I m-miss you R-Regina," she couldn't control the sobs anymore, tears were falling down on the snow, making tiny holes on the ground in front of her.

"I know I said I w-would be strong for him b-but I just can't Regina, I can't," Emma closed her eyes and breathed in, trying to calm herself as the clock tower rang midnight. She wasn't so cold anymore suddenly, it was almost as if she could feel warm arms hugging her from behind, telling her everything would be fine… so much that Emma actually turned around to check, but no one was there, and suddenly she was cold again.

"You must think I'm so pathetic right now," Emma chuckled bitterly and whipped her tears away again. She look up in the sky and sighed, "I don't know where you are Regina, but wherever that is I hope you're in peace and… I miss you… and I love you, always." Just as she said that and sniffed, a shooting star flew in the sky, only to disappear a second later. Emma thought for a second and then closed her eyes, murmuring "I wish to go back to that night four years ago and prevent the accident from happening."

She opened her eyes slowly and then nothing. Nothing happened and Emma was so frustrated.

"Why am I even trying," she said and got up angrily, maybe too fast as she started to feel dizzy and had to hold on to a nearby tree so she wouldn't fall. The dizziness wouldn't go away and Emma's head started to spin more and more. She could swear she saw something in front of her right before she fell unconscious on the ground.

…

Emma started to wake up slowly and the first thing that she noticed was that she was warm. The second thing she noticed was that she was on something soft and not on the cold and hard ground of the cemetery. She opened her eyes, confused and when she looked around she could recognize her living room, but something was off…

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, how did she end up there? She looked at the Christmas tree and saw gifts on the ground.

"What the hell?" Emma said, because she clearly remembered leaving the gifts to her parents when she dropped Henry off for the night. She was still looking at the gifts in confusion when she was snapped out of her thoughts by her phone. She walked to the kitchen table where she had left her phone and lit the screen up to see who had texted her and then…

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Emma snapped to herself. She had received a text from  _Gina_ telling her _'I'm so sorry I'll be late again, I promise I'll make it up to the both of you tomorrow, love you.'_ She was ready to flip the entire town to find the responsible of this sickening joke until it clicked…

Emma's eyes opened in realization, and she went straight to Henry room to check if her assumption was right or not. When she opened the door, she wasn't in front of an empty room like it should have been, but she was in fact in front of a sleeping Henry. A sleeping  _four years old_  Henry. She closed the door again and almost ran to the living room to check for the time. 9:30pm, half an hour before… no. She wouldn't let it happen, not again. Emma took her car keys and hurried to turn the car on, and then went back to Henry's room, wrapped him in his blanket- being extra careful not to wake him up, and then put the sleeping boy in the car and drove to her parents'.

Her parents' house was midway to the florist and their house. She just had to drop henry there for the night and then stop the man before he could actually kill her wife. She had been given a second chance and she would do everything she could to prevent the drama from happening if it was the last thing she'd do.

Emma knocked at Mary Margaret and David's house with Henry in her arms and waited for them to open.

"Emma? What are you doing wi-"

"-I'm sorry mom I don't have time to explain, but I need for you to keep Henry with you just for tonight," Emma said rapidly and then put the sleeping boy in her mother's arms.

"…wha-"

"-thanks mom, I'll come back tomorrow morning to pick him up," She told her and hurried back to the car. She didn't have much time left, thank god they lived in a small town.

She drove, faster and faster on the snowy road to be on time. She had 5 minutes left before the accident and the road was a bit foggy, which made it complicated for her to see anything. Emma cursed as she saw time fly and couldn't see the guy anywhere. She had almost reached the spot of the accident when she finally spotted his car, driving awkwardly in the middle of the road and then back on his side of the road. The bastard, Emma thought.

She turned her siren on behind him to force him to stop, and to Emma's relief, he didn't protest and actually stopped. They stopped on the side of the road and Emma got out of the car, slamming her down shut and walking to the guy's car. He rolled down his window and looked at Emma guiltily.

"Hey, have you noticed you were not driving straight at all?" Emma asked, tensed.

The guy was nervous, almost sweating when he answered, "Hum… yeah I… Probably drank one glass I shouldn't have, but I mean it's Christmas right?" he said and chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry Sheriff I'll be extra careful on my way ho-"

"-I'm sorry? Do you have any idea how irresponsible it would be for me to let you go just like that? Do you have  _any_  idea ho dangerous it is to drive like this? You could kill someone, destroy an entire family on freaking Christmas Eve!" Emma almost shouted and the man swallowed and looked down.

"So no you won't be going home tonight, I'll drive you to the station where you'll sober up and  _then_  we'll see." Emma opened his car door to let him get out of it and walked him to the back of the Sheriff car to do just what she had said.

She got back to the driver's seat and started the car, and just when she was about to check for cars behind her to go back on the road, she spotted the black Mercedes making its way to her house,  _their_  house she reminded herself. Emma smiled as her eyes started to water, she had done it. Regina was alive and safely going home.

"Are we going or what?" the guy almost snapped at the back and Emma rolled her eyes in annoyance and started to drive back on the street, without thinking about checking a second time behind her… which she realized once she heard the loud honk of the car behind her and felt it crash into her own car.

The last thing she heard was that sweet,  _sweet_  voice that she never thought she would hear again scream her name in the background, before everything faded.

…

Emma woke up again to a strange feeling. She felt lighter, no pain, better than ever. When she opened her eyes, she couldn't quite see were she was, it was foggy, but warm. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, until she saw a similar thing than the one she thought she had seen at the cemetery before she passed out. It was getting closer and closer, and Emma still couldn't make out any face.

"H-hello?" Emma asked, unsure and the thing didn't answer, only got closer until Emma could somehow make out a figure, and then she understood.

It was a specter, a Christmas specter? Emma didn't know, she must have hit her head when she fell at the cemetery, it wasn't possible.

"Emma Swan… aren't you a bit early?" the specter asked studying her.

"W-what? Who are you?" Emma glared at the specter suspiciously.

"It doesn't matter. Dear Emma, hasn't anyone told you before? Magic always comes with a price."

"What are you talking about? Am I turning mad?" She asked the last bit more to herself, but the specter heard it all.

"You did make a wish, right?"

"Well… yeah but I never thought it would get granted… did it?" Emma wasn't even sure anymore.

"Normally, no one would have given a second thought to your wish we have far more important matter to take care off, but tonight it's Christmas dear, everyone knows wishes are more likely to be granted at Christmas, you just have to believe."

"But… why am I here then? what is this place?" Emma asked.

"This is the In Between, not quite dead, but not quite alive either. You are here for a reason Emma, magic always comes with a price."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's a life for a life Emma. You wished for your wife to come back to life, another soul needs to fill her place in the afterlife. Have you ever wondered what consequences this wish of yours would have?" The specter asked, but didn't wait for an answer before it continued.

"Have you ever wondered what life would be if  _you_  had died instead of your wife?"

A tear ran down Emma's cheek before she was engulfed in a flash of images.

_A straight line appeared on the monitor, and a voice could be heard in the background saying "We lost her. Time of death, 11:55pm." Two doctors made their way to Regina, who was sitting in the waiting room, her head in her hands. When she lifted her head and saw the doctors' faces, she understood. Four words. "We're so sorry." Four words are all it took for Regina to loose it. She was sobbing, screaming. She had just lost her wife, the love of her life._

_Another flash, Regina and a 10 year old Henry having an argument. He's blaming her for what happened. 'She went out to get you, if you hadn't been late, if you hadn't let work pass over your family once again, I would still have my real mom!' and then he's gone, leaving Regina crying in the living room. Of course she blames herself, she always has. She started to drink on the evenings, she couldn't live with those dark thoughts anymore._

_Emma could see Regina on the ground then, passed out. Henry found her, she had drank too much. It was the second time already, and the town had made a decision. She wasn't fit to take care of her son anymore, she needed to take care of herself first. She didn't have any strength left to fight that decision._

_Henry went to live with his grandparents. Regina never got better, and eventually joined Emma._

The flashes ended then, and Emma was crying.

"That not- that's not what I meant to d-do… I-I don't want this, what have I done?" Emma said, horrified.

"Tell me Emma, was it worth it? Giving your son his mother back just so he could lose the other one instead? Be careful what you wish for next time…" The specter asked and then faded away slowly.

"No wait! You can't leave now, what do I do? Come back!" Emma screamed and then everything started to fade away as well.

Beeps, that's all Emma could hear as she started to come back to herself. She couldn't open her eyes yet, it was as if they were glued for a moment. She could hear more noises, someone shift next to her. And then someone was pushing a few brands of hair out of her face. She could recognize that soft touch among thousands. Her eyes started to water immediately, and she was completely sobbing by the time she heard that sweet voice call her name again.

"Emma? Can you hear me?" Regina asked, her voice full of worry. Emma nodded slowly and kept crying without opening her eyes. She was afraid that if she opened them, everything would fade away once again, and Regina would be gone.

She felt Regina's hand stroke her cheek softly and then she could hear her voice again.

"Emma what's happening? I'm gonna get a doctor I'll be  _right_  back-"

"-No!" Emma finally spoke, her voice hoarse, and gripped Regina's hand so tight she could swear she heard her moan in pain lightly.

"Please d-dont leave me…" Emma sniffed, and then she felt the bed shift and her heart could have stopped right there when she felt Regina's sweet lips against her temple and the little murmur in her ear saying "Shh, I'm right there."

Regina looked down at Emma then, her eyes were still closed, as if she was afraid to open them. She frowned and stroked Emma's hair again.

"Can you open your eyes for me sweetheart? I promise I'll still be there."

Emma hesitated, she was still holding Regina's hand tightly. She finally decided to open her eyes slowly. The first thing she saw were Regina's eyes, full of worry, and then her little smile when Emma had completely opened her eyes.

"Welcome back," Regina breathed in relief with a smile, still stroking Emma's hair.

Emma was still crying though, even more now that she could finally see her wife. She was there, she was real, alive and well.

"Are you in pain? I should really get a doct-"

"No no I just… let me look at you," Emma said and genuinely smiled for the first time, putting her hand on Regina's cheek, who smiled back at her.

"You know, you scared me today… you were gone for 20 seconds Emma, your heart stopped while they were going to the OR and I thought I had lost you and… and it would have been my fault… I'm so sorry Emma" Regina finally said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Oh Gina don't blame yourself it never would have been your fault, I'm okay anyway and it's all that matters right?" Emma told her, her thumb stroking Regina's knuckles when her eyes widened and she asked, "Wait… am I?"

Regina shook her head and chuckled lightly at that, looking at Emma fondly.

"Idiot… of course you are, do you think you'd be talking to me like that if you weren't?" Regina replied and put her hand on Emma's left temple, "You just got a pretty bad blow on your head right there… but they managed to fix it."

"What about the others…?" Emma asked and saw Regina small smile fade away.

"They didn't make it… And before you blame yourself, the guy who hit you was drunk too, so much that the doctors were even surprised he managed to make it to his car at all, he had no family and was celebrating on his own it seems…"

Emma's eyes widened. A life for a life, a soul needed to take Regina's place in the afterlife for her to come back to the living world. Seems like it wasn't her after all.

Emma opened her mouth to speak but they got interrupted by a knock on the door, revealing her parents and Henry, who all but ran in his mother's arms.

"Mama!"

"Hey my little Prince," Regina said, lifting him up in her arms and smiling, kissing his cheek. "Merry Christmas baby, did you open your gifts yet?"

"No grandma and grandpa said I should wait for mommy… so we brought them here!" Henry exclaimed, and got down from his mother's arms to get them.

Emma laughed, watching him hurry to his grandfather's side to get the bag full of gifts.

Regina sat back down on the bed and put her hand on Emma's cheek. "Merry Christmas to you too by the way," she said and kissed Emma softly on the lips.

Emma smiled and looked at her family fondly. Everyone was smiling and laughing, and when she saw Henry going back in Regina's arms to climb on the bed and hug her, Emma finally remembered how a real Christmas felt.

Emma hugged her son back, and murmured to herself, the smile never leaving her face, "Merry Christmas indeed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, thank you for all the kuddos and especially the reviews, they are a great help!
> 
> If you have any prompts feel free to send them to me xx


	7. Cookie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Swan-Mills family welcome a brand new member in their family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I know it's been ages but here's some very cute fluff to make up for it I hope.
> 
> Rated M for all the good reasons... bear with me please this is my first time writing smut

* * *

 

"I said  _no puppy_ , end of discussion." That's what Regina said four weeks ago. Henry's thirteen birthday was coming up and he was begging her for a little puppy.

"But mooom I promise I'll take care of it and I'll take it for walks all the time!"

"And what is it going to do when you're in school and your mother and I are at both at work? Have you thought about that Henry?" Regina asked, crossing her arms.

"Uh… I could… take it with me to school…?" Henry answered, already knowing that he had lost.

"That's what I said, no puppy," Regina replied and went to the kitchen, leaving Henry and Emma alone in the living room

Henry couldn't hide his disappointment and was looking at Emma in a silent plea for her to convince his other mother.

"Mom…"

"-kid don't look at me like that, you know your mom doesn't like animals…"

"But I'm sure if we went to the shelter to just look at a few of them she'd see how cute and nice they are…"

Emma chuckled, "Henry puppies may be cute but they aren't always nice… even if they don't mean to do bad things."

"But yeah that's the thing, they don't mean it, they just need someone to teach them! I will do it!" Henry said with excitement.

Emma sighed and sat next to Henry on the couch, "But who would clean up when the pup makes a mess of the living room hum?"

"Well… me?"

"We both know your mother wouldn't let you do it… you know how she is kid." Henry looked down, disappointed. He knew it was a lost cause. Emma sighed and ruffled his hair, "I'll try to talk to her, but I can't promise anything." As soon as she finished her sentence Henry's face lit up, "Thanks mom!"

Emma shook her head and smiled when he got up and ran into his room - probably to google some dog websites - She wasn't against the idea, on the contrary so she would try to talk to her fiancée about it, but she already knew it wouldn't be easy…

It was way past 10pm when Emma finally decided to talk to Regina. She was sitting on the side of the bed applying some lotion on her legs and she looked so relaxed… perfect timing.

"Hey Gina I-"

"Nope." Regina said, interrupting Emma without even lifting her eyes, still massaging her legs.

"Oh come on you don't even know what I was about to say."

"Oh yes I do, I saw the way you looked at Henry downstairs earlier and my answer is still no."

Emma sighed, "Can you at least consider it? I'll help him take care of it and it would make him so happy… I know you don't hate animals deep down."

"But I do hate all the mess that comes with having an animal, a dog above all…" Regina replied with a sigh, finally looking at Emma. "And  _even if_  I decided to consider it, there's still a problem: what would we do when we're both working and Henry's at school? We can't just leave it alone Emma…"

"Well I thought about it and I could take it with me to the station? I mean just until it's big enough to stay on its own at home, even if David and I have to go on a patrol together the dog couldn't do much damage there," Emma explained, taking Regina's hand. She could see that she was torn, because the little vein on her forehead was popping out as it always did when Regina was thinking.

"But what about all the mess it can do at home even when we're there-"

"Hey, you're not alone in this, I promise to clean any mess this puppy would do in the house and you won't have to worry about anything," Emma said, squeezing Regina's hand and smiling when she saw her starting to give in. "Come on just think about his face when you tell him you agree…"

"I… alright fine, I'm willing to  _try._ But one mistake and it goes back to the shelter okay?"

Emma smiled brightly and cupped Regina cheek to kiss her sweetly, "I knew I could convince you."

Regina chuckled, "I'm starting to wonder if you're not the one who put this idea in our son's head in the first place."

"Me? Never…" Emma replied and Regina couldn't help the smile that was stuck on her face. Sometimes Emma was just a grown up kid, no wonder their son probably persuaded her in two seconds.

"I do believe I deserve a little treat though…" Regina said as she guided Emma closer to her on the bed and lay down.

"Oh do you now?" Emma asked, leaning in and starting to kiss her neck slowly.

"Hmh…" Regina hummed and smiled when Emma started to remove her silk top to kiss her further down.

"Well I better satisfy the Queen then…" she said as she unclipped Regina's bra and kissed her slowly before sliding back down, cupping one breast with her hand, caressing her sensitive nipple softly and sucking on the other.

Regina closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the feeling, moaning softly, both in pain and pleasure when Emma bit one of her nipples before sucking on the other. She could feel one of Emma's hands sliding down on her thighs, playing with the fabric of her panties.

"Hmm Emma, I'm not in the mood for teasing…" Regina whispered and could feel her smile against her breast. She let it go with a soft pop and made her way down, making sure to kiss every inch of Regina's body until she reached what she was looking for. Emma pushed the fabric of Regina's very wet panties aside and slowly pushed two fingers inside of her, pumping slowly at first and then a bit faster, adding a finger when she felt Regina's walls adjusting to her skilled digits.

Regina's started to breathe faster, moaning softly when Emma started to thrust her fingers deeper inside of her. Her entire body was on fire, the blonde had let her other hand travel back to the brunette's breasts, rolling her brown nipples with her thumb.

Regina was almost in heaven,  _almost_ … because something was missing.

"Emma… more…" Regina breathed, closing her eyes once again when she felt Emma's hand leave her breasts to join her other hand right where she wanted it to be. The Sheriff started to play with the Mayor's bundle of nerves, and she could feel Regina's body move with her fingers, as Regina moaned louder and louder.

"Oh god yes… just like this," Regina moaned and let her own hands travel to her breasts to play with them as she was getting closer and closer.

"That's it baby, come for me…" Emma said, leaning in to kiss Regina softly at first, and then more roughly as she gave in to the passion and feelings her fiancé was feeling underneath her.

Regina didn't need to be told twice, as soon as she heard the words come out of Emma's mouth, she was overwhelmed with waves of pleasure that made her whole body tremble. They hadn't soundproofed the room as they usually did before they got a little more handy, so Regina was thankful for Emma's mouth on her own which muffled her cries as she rode her orgasm with Emma's fingers.

By the time Emma had removed her fingers, she was drenched. Both with Regina's arousal and her own, so when Regina smirked at her and turned them over so she was on top, saying "your turn Sheriff…", Emma had never been more grateful that their son had asked for that damm puppy.

The next morning, the little family was on their way to the animal shelter of Storybrooke, ready to choose the possible new member of the family. Regina had never seen Henry so happy. As much as she regretted saying yes when she woke up this morning, she just couldn't bring herself to regret it anymore when she saw her son's face light up when they told him.

Henry was hesitating between two puppies, he was sitting down on the ground, playing with the both of them and just couldn't choose. He took a tentative look at his mother when he heard her approach but understood right away that there was no way he could even try to ask about bringing them both home. However what Henry hadn't noticed was that one of the puppies had followed his gaze right to his mother and was now running to her, wagging its tail happily and getting up on two of its paws, the other two resting on Regina's legs.

"Oh come on…" Regina said, looking down at her legs and trying her best to sound annoyed at the very cute little puppy that was just asking for her attention, letting out a little yelp when she didn't give him any.

Henry laughed at the sight and walked to his mother, picking the puppy up in his arms, "Well I guess I don't have to choose anymore… this one chose you instead."

Emma had been watching the whole scene from behind and couldn't help the chuckle that came out of her mouth. She could see that Regina was dying to give in to the little bundle of cuteness in Henry's arms and give it all the attention it asked, but she just wouldn't prove her son right. He did tell her he was sure she would love the puppy right away after all, and they hadn't even gone home yet that Regina could feet herself growing soft.

They had bought everything that they needed to welcome the dog home, even a big doghouse to put outside in the back of the garden for when it grows. The puppy was a light brown Labrador and he would need a bigger space to play than their living room soon enough.

The first three days had gone oddly smooth, Henry had settled on the name "Cookie" because he said the color of the dog reminded him of cookies… fair enough. The puppy was still happily following Regina everywhere, he seemed to be quite taken with her, to Regina's annoyance. She still hadn't given in and wasn't about to do so anytime soon. Henry and Emma had walked out with him a lot to teach him to do his business outside and they hadn't had any accidents yet, no broken furniture or dirty little paws on the sofa… too good to be true. This is what Regina had been thinking, and she was right.

On the fourth day, Emma and Henry had gone fishing and as much as he had insisted, Emma had convinced him to leave Cookie at home with Regina because the puppy would just get bored or scare the fish. So today it was just Cookie and Regina at home, and Regina had taken advantage of the beautiful sunny day to do some gardening and let a bit of fresh air into the house. She took a look in the living room and noticed the small bundle of fur sleeping soundly on the carpet, so she decided to leave him alone for a few minutes and headed outside to the garden, leaving the backdoor open to let some air in. However "a few minutes" transformed into half an hour and when Regina noticed that she had been gone for that long and still hadn't heard of the dog, she grew suspicious and walked back into the house.

When she arrived in the living room, Regina was ready to kill the dammed puppy. He was chewing on all the magazines he had found, had been for god knows how long and there was paper and ripped pieces of paper everywhere.

"You've GOT to be kidding me." Regina said, clearly angry. However Cookie didn't see it that way and ran excitedly to her when he spotted her, knocking a flowerpot down in the process and leaving soil everywhere on the ground. Regina was boiling and only then did the puppy notice that he might have done something wrong.

"In your basket, now! And I don't wanna see you until I say you can come back understood?" Regina yelled at the dog, and Cookie left to his basket weeping softly until he was laying down.

Regina sighed, he was just a puppy and needed to be taught, but she had had a long day and was exhausted, she didn't need the whole mess. She threw away the ripped magazines, cleaned the living room and when she was finally done, she let herself fall on the sofa, even more exhausted than before. She lay down and let her numb arm fall down to the floor, trying to ease her muscles. She was almost asleep when she felt a little tongue licking her hand on the ground. She opened her eyes and looked down, only to see Cookie looking at her with his sad puppy eyes, weeping softly when she looked at him and didn't do anything. Regina sighed once again and pet his little head with her hand which earned her a happy little yelp.

She couldn't help but let out a little smile, which Cookie took as an invitation and climbed on the sofa right next to Regina's head.

"Oh for god's… who allowed you to climb on here?" Regina asked but Cookie just lay down next to her and played with his little tail, not paying attention to Regina's question at all. She was too tired to fight so Regina just chuckled at the sight, "You really just wanted my attention uh?" she said and then shook her head and just closed her eyes when the dog settled next to her for good.

Half an hour later, Cookie lifted his head at the sound of the door opening and closing. It was just Emma coming back from the lake, Henry had met with a friend and had asked to spend the rest of the afternoon at his place, so Emma said yes and went home without him.

When she arrived in the living room and saw the puppy next to a sleeping Regina on the sofa, Emma stopped dead in her track. She looked at the both of them and smiled at the sight. She walked to the sofa and crouched down next to them, petting Cookie's head and whispering, "What are you doing here little one? Does mamma bear know that you're here?" As a response, the puppy turned around and settled even closer to Regina's head, awakening her a little. Regina hummed in her sleep and cuddled closer to the puppy, putting her hand around him so he wouldn't fall.

Emma lifted her eyebrows and chuckled slowly, "Seems like she does." She brushed Regina hair aside and kissed her brow softly.

"You Regina Mills, are just one big softie," Emma whispered and then took her phone out to take a picture of them before heading to the kitchen to let them sleep. There was no way she wasn't showing this to Henry when he got home.

**Author's Note:**

> So here it is, I have a couple more OS already written and a few ideas for some eventual new one shots. Please let me know what you think about this one and if you want more :)


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